The typical corner cube reflector 10, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises three mutually orthogonal plano-reflective surfaces 11, 12, and 13, which cumulatively form a right-angle concave mirror. An incident light ray upon the corner cube reflector 10 from direction A will be reflected back in direction A, i.e., toward the source, if it reflects off the three plano-reflective surfaces 11, 12, and 13. Corner cube reflectors 20 with a movable base mirror 24, as shown in FIG. 2, show promise as optical modulators. However, achieving proper alignment and planarity of the base mirror 24 during the fabrication process has proved challenging. Furthermore, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) require hermetic packaging to avoid stiction and other reliability problems. There is a need for improved structures that simplify fabrication, avoid operational problems, mitigate packaging constraints, and improve reliability.